What steady progress looks like: Thorn’s 14th year

Every child deserves to simply be a kid.

For 14 years, Thorn has worked toward that future by bringing research, technology, and partnerships together to transform how children are protected from sexual abuse.

During our fourteenth year, progress did not happen in a single moment. It happened month after month — as new insights revealed where youth were facing emerging harms, technology was used to protect more children, and people across the child safety community turned expertise into action.

Here are some of the moments that moved child safety forward in 2026.

2026 impact at a glance

(January 1-September 30, 2026)

• 2,607,494 suspected CSAM files found
• 9,585,707 suspected instances of child sexual exploitation found
• 2,220,171,119,895 files processed to detect child sexual abuse material
• 95 companies using Thorn’s CSAM detection products
• 4,891 research report downloads
• 1,046 law enforcement agencies using Thorn’s child victim detection tools

Behind every number is sustained work — and another step toward stronger protection for children.

JANUARY — VISION FOR THE YEAR
Technical Innovation • Research & Insights • Child Victim Identification

Beginning the year with purpose

At the start of 2026, Thorn CEO Julie Cordua outlined a clear vision: accelerate technical innovation, strengthen the tools that help investigators identify children, and produce research that gives the child safety community the insights needed to act.
It was a commitment to keep building the digital safety net that every child deserves.

FEBRUARY — SAYING NO TO NUDIFYING TOOLS
Research & Insights • Partnerships

Standing together against technology designed to cause harm

Thorn joined 107 organizations calling on governments and technology companies to prohibit nudifying tools, which are increasingly being weaponized against children to create new child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from innocent photos. The effort was informed by Thorn’s research showing that 1 in 8 teens knows someone targeted by deepfake nudes.

MARCH — DEFENDING THE ABILITY TO DETECT ABUSE
Policy • Partnerships

Calling for action to close Europe’s child safety gap

Thorn joined more than 240 organizations warning that a lapse in European law could prevent platforms from proactively detecting and removing CSAM. Because detection helps remove abusive content and gives investigators information that may identify children in harm’s way, the coalition called for an urgent, permanent solution to close the gap.

APRIL — EXPANDING THE REACH OF CHILD SAFETY
Technical Innovation • Partnerships

Expanding protection — and the conversation around it

At the Skoll World Forum and Marmalade Festival, Thorn shared child safety expertise and strengthened relationships with global leaders working to address complex challenges. That same month, Thorn expanded the reach of technology that helps platforms identify grooming, while a WIRED investigation brought Thorn’s insights on sexual deepfakes in schools to a wider audience.

MAY — REVEALING AN EMERGING THREATResearch & Insights

Building understanding of Sadistic Online Exploitation

Thorn published new research on Sadistic Online Exploitation (SOE) — violent online networks that manipulate and abuse young people while exploiting gaps in child safety systems. By revealing how this emerging threat operates, the findings equip platforms, researchers, child protection services, and other professionals to recognize risks earlier and build a more effective, coordinated response.

JUNE — FROM RESEARCH TO SYSTEMS-LEVEL ACTIONResearch & Insights • Partnerships

Turning research into systems-level action

At a closed-door FBI summit, Thorn was the sole external organization invited to present research. Our findings on SOE guided cross-sector discussions and were already informing congressional testimony, screening protocols, and new research opportunities — showing how Thorn’s expertise strengthens responses across the child safety ecosystem.

Progress doesn’t happen only in the moments you see.

Behind every milestone is sustained research, innovation, collaboration, and expertise. The challenges may change from month to month, but the work of protecting children must continue through all of them.

See why steady support matters

JULY — SHARING EXPERTISE ACROSS THE FIELDCommunity • Partnerships

Strengthening the child safety community at TrustCon

At TrustCon, Thorn joined trust and safety professionals working to build healthier and safer digital spaces. Through several child safety sessions, Thorn shared research and technical expertise with people positioned to shape platform policies, products, and responses to abuse.

The challenges children face cannot be addressed by one organization alone. Progress depends on equipping a broader community to act.

Also this month: Context Labels

Thorn introduced Context Labels in our platform solution, Safer, giving trust and safety teams more information about suspected abuse content so they can prioritize higher-risk material and strengthen reports to investigators.

AUGUST — BRINGING CHILD SAFETY TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCECommunity • Partnerships

Helping more people understand the scale of the problem

An NBC News national segment examined how schools are using technology to detect and respond to child sexual abuse material on school devices.

Thorn CEO Julie Cordua helped place that issue within a broader reality: technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation extends far beyond any one school, platform, or device. Raising public understanding helps families, schools, companies, and policymakers recognize the need for a coordinated response.

Also this month: Youth Perspectives

Thorn released new Youth Perspectives research, elevating young people’s experiences with online risks and giving families, platforms, and policymakers clearer insight into where protections must improve.

SEPTEMBER — TAKING CHILD SAFETY TO CAPITOL HILLPolicy • Partnerships

Meeting with lawmakers about the STOP CSAM Act

Thorn CEO Julie Cordua joined leaders from the Tim Tebow Foundation, NCMEC, and International Justice Mission on Capitol Hill to discuss the STOP CSAM Act with congressional leaders. Their message: The laws and systems designed to protect children have not kept pace with the ways abuse is happening online.

Thorn brought its research, technical expertise, and experience working across the child safety ecosystem to the conversation. The bill would strengthen platform reporting and accountability while expanding protections and pathways to justice for victims and survivors.

OCTOBER — STRENGTHENING GLOBAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSEResearch & Insights • Child Victim Identification • Partnerships

Sharing expertise to strengthen global action

At INTERPOL’s Specialists Group on Crimes Against Children, members of Thorn’s team joined global experts. Director of Research and Insights Amanda Goharian presented Thorn’s research on sadistic online exploitation; Director of Global Engagement Cathal Delaney shared lessons on scaling victim identification; and Vice President of Victim Identification Brian Herrick explored how AI can surface critical digital material faster while supporting the resilience of frontline investigators exposed to CSAM.

Also this month: Thorn brought child safety into the broader AI safety conversation when Machine Learning Engineer Michael Simpson presented to technology leaders at The AI Conference.

NOVEMBER — 14 YEARS OF ADVANCING CHILD SAFETYThe work continues

Celebrating how far we’ve come — and preparing for what comes next

On November 12, Thorn turns 14.

The moments from this year are different, but they are deeply connected. Research helps reveal where children need stronger protection. Technology transforms insight into practical tools. Partnerships help those tools and ideas reach the people positioned to act.

Together, they strengthen the digital safety net children need to safely explore, learn, and connect.

But the threats children face will not stand still — and neither will Thorn.

The next month of progress starts now.

Every month brings new challenges — and new opportunities to strengthen how children are protected.

Monthly support gives Thorn a reliable foundation to study emerging risks, develop new technology, and act when opportunities arise. As a Thorn Builder, you can help sustain that work throughout the year.

Together, we can keep building toward a future where every child can simply be a kid.

Become a Thorn Builder